Helen Zille at launch of SA's first deaf-run coffee shop

The first deaf-run coffee shop in South Africa is now open to the public!

07 Jun 2016

We were alerted to the news just a few weeks ago that a new coffee shop was set to open in Cape Town - but not just any coffee shop, this one was to serve coffees made exclusively by deaf baristas, using beans from a local roaster called Tribe.

I Love Coffee Shop officially open its doors in Cape Town today and we were there to witness the cutting of the ribbon by none other then Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille (who incidentally has a deaf sister that was never taught sign language growing up but learnt to communicate using the 'oral method').

The brains behind I Love Coffee Shop, Gary Hopkins says, 'The I love coffee brand aims to be a cool, fun and engaging and is not out to garner a sympathy vote, We specifically chose a fun name and incorporated Deaf language into the brand by replacing the heart symbol with the SASL sign for ‘I Love You’.”

You can visit I love coffee shop in Unit 1, The Mews in Draper Street, Claremont, Cape Town.